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Best Dance-With-the-Stars Lessons

Zack’s Dance Loft

35 W. 38th St., 4W, 212-731-9632

If you want to dance like Drew Lachey (and not Kenny Mayne), skip the corporate studios littering Manhattan in favor of Zack Engel. The Israeli’s private lessons are as technically sound as anyone’s—and way looser and more fun. His stated aim is to “make the woman look beautiful.” And the way to do that, the former PricewaterhouseCoopers analyst says, is to teach the man to lead. Lessons open with a drink to set the mood, and include as much conversation as salsa. “I often make friends of students,” he says. At the more traditional lessons—he suggests about ten to fifteen—he often videotapes couples so they can see their errors. He’ll also provide a female partner for single men and even take small groups out to clubs, where he’ll scan the floor for dancers to match his students’ skill level. A one-hour $59 lesson usually is more like 90 minutes; the yenta service comes at no extra charge.

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So what exactly does “best” mean in a city with thousands of pizza joints, hundreds of celebrity masseuses, and museum-worthy concept shops on every corner? Well, in the case of this, our annual “Best of New York” roundup, there’s a heavy emphasis on what’s new or what has somehow remained virtually unheard of (until now, of course).